[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Name translations

[Günther Böhm]

  Otto schrieb:

>A bit further on the Mayert SURNAME and and given name ADOLF
>In years past the 'MAY' part of the surname designated location, and  
>'er' designated farmer.  The suffix ending 'er' and 'ert' mean the  
>same thing.  Eventually with the passing of time 'er' and ert' came  
>to stand for what one does.
>
Hello Otto,
generally correct but not in this case!
-ert is colloquil for -ers which indicates the plural (of the MAYER family).
But MAYER (note the strange Y in it!) comes from Latin MAIOR (the Latin 
alphabet had no J and its late and rare Y was borrowed from Greek) which 
means "the greater" (male or female = MAIOR; neuter = MAIUS).

But this is not enough. Originally, a Major - Mayer - Maier - Meier was 
a manager of an independent part of a rural estate, the "Meierei". As 
such a part could be leased, the meaning of "Meierei" turned to a share 
tenant farm and finally to a dairy with a Mayer - Maier - Meier as its 
manager.

So in general you are right: Mayer was a profession.

Guenther